Arsenal v Sunderland (2013-14)
| next = }} Arsenal v Sunderland was a match which took place at Emirates Stadium on Saturday 22 February 2014. Olivier Giroud marked his return to action with two goals as Arsenal romped to victory over Sunderland. He stroked home an early opener after a deflected Jack Wilshere shot fell to him, and capitalised on a poor Santiago Vergini back-pass for his second. Tomas Rosicky clipped home a third after a neat Arsenal passing move with Laurent Koscielny heading the fourth. Emanuele Giaccherini produced a stunning late volley to end Arsenal's run of five Emirates clean sheets. Giroud had sat out the Gunners' previous two games, with manager Arsene Wenger insisting the French striker needed a rest. But he looked thoroughly refreshed as he tormented a Sunderland team with one eye on their Capital One Cup final appearance next week. Even without the injured Mesut Ozil, who shone on his debut in Arsenal's win at the Stadium of Light in September, Arsenal were rarely troubled by Gus Poyet's team. The Black Cats had barely touched the ball when Arsenal grabbed a fifth-minute lead as Giroud ended a run of four games without a goal. Lukas Podolski and Rosicky were involved in the build-up, allowing Wilshere to drive into the box, where his shot hit Phil Bardsley. When the ball rolled to Giroud, the Frenchman reacted quickly to drill a low shot past Vito Mannone. Mannone, back at the Emirates for the first time since his summer move north, was left helpless when Vergini gifted the Gunners a second. Making his first Premier League start, the Argentine central defender failed to notice Giroud lingering in the box when he attempted to pass back to his keeper and the Gunners striker clinically slid the ball past the exasperated keeper. There was further pain for Mannone just before half-time as Rosicky sealed a wonderful Arsenal passing move with a close-range finish. The midfielder took return passes from Wilshere and Santi Cazorla before finding Giroud running on to his cute pass into the box to clip the ball over the keeper. Vergini's nightmare day nearly got worse when he sliced a Bacary Sagna cross just past his own post. But from the resulting corner Koscielny got away from Bardsley and planted home a free header from eight yards out. With a victory that keeps them one point behind leaders Chelsea assured, Arsenal eased off and Sunderland came into the game. Ki Sung-Yeung forced a superb save from Wojciech Szczesny, but the Pole could do little to keep out Giaccherini's strike. Having punched away a corner, the keeper must have thought he had cleared the danger but Giaccherini fired a low volley just inside the post. It did no more than spoil Arsenal's run of clean sheets though, as the hosts bounced back from their midweek Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich in perfect fashion. Match Details Rosicky Koscielny | goals2 = Giaccherini | stadium = Emirates Stadium, London | attendance = 60,012 | referee = Andre Marriner }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} External links *Match report at BBC.co.uk Category:2013-14 Match Day info Category:Arsenal F.C. matches Category:Sunderland A.F.C. matches Category:2013–14 Premier League Matches